Tile flooring



Aug. 30, 1932. J. G. sHoDRoN 1,374,644

' TILE FLOORING Filed/Aug. 22, 1928 ilo 1 INVENTOR.

Y 11- 7 @MJ/L HdM/M ATTORNEYS.

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Patented Aug. 30, 1932 siren ,srivrus PA 'llNg'l 0F FICE J SHODRON; OE"IE"ORJ.r ATKNSON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR '120. .Tl-llltjlfits` MANUFAC- TUBlING CQMPANY,*OF FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN, A GORPOBATJION' 0F WISCONSIN' TILE,rLooitINey .Appneationniea August 22, 192s. fsenaiuoivaciaos.

lihisr invention relatesto` improvements in emmene lhe tileofjthis, invention is intended and adapted foniise for a` wide variety of pur- `5; poses, including floor-ing for buildings of all sorts andi floor ybases upon. whichr vother ieorilng such as any composition floor or rubben or@ corkytile or linoleum may be laid. The particular and specific purpose from mitheistandpeint of Whichthe invention will be de sribed anddiscussed herein is the applicationof fthistileto the flooring of stalls and theflilekin which serv-ice this tile has a number Y of advantages overanything previously le used; foetherufpose Ithas beendiiiicultto iind a material suitablesfjorfpaving high quality animal stalls in a'snitablemanner. Sanitaryconditions preclude the use of wood or other iibrous lmateige; rials unless such materials are rendered substantially-wien proof through impregnationfforsurfacefcovering. The v hoofs of the animals. will ydestroy any ordinary .surface ceveringand thematerials used vfor impregg/zg; natiorivareE .either offensive from the stand,

pointqfzodororbecome adhesive when warm, asisthecasewith substances cfa pitchy or tarlikenature,A andadhere to .an animal ly.

ing thereon. Concrete, has been widely used becausejof thefact that it may be .washed easilyand is substantially impervious to ymoistureiandlwill endure underthe heavy wear oecasionedby, the impact of animals hoofs therese... Milch dseaseand illneSS, hOu/ever, has been traceable to the coldness of concrete ilQors due `tod ire ct A contact with the ground and relatively high conductivity of the con-Y crete. f'lilefof; rubberand the like is cutby the hoofs of; the animals and` other soft tile -Whihhavebeen tested have become abraded away leayingprojecting ribs of cement which are uncomfortable to the stock.

' '1 I tzifs the purpose of the present invention to provide4 a 1fl o o rin-g tilehaving low heat enductivity, relatively low-moisture absorptigincharacteristics, and a relatively hard and' easily washable face which is not only scored to protect the stock against slipping theneon-but is substantially square in plan ,5.0 softhatin laying the tilethescore lines may,

be laid to run in different directions. It is. preferred that this tile shouldf be made.- of inherently non-fibrous material so as torequire no treatment with water-proofingV agents. f It ismy purpose to overcome all ofv g55 the objections above noted which have ybeen found vin rprevious stall flooring material andit .will be obvious from, the following `disclosure that the tile forming the subject mat-v ter of this application successfully avoids gos all yobjections heretofore experienced.` rIn the drawing- Y Figurelis a perspectiveview of a single tile embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a view on asmallerscale, show-J 55, ing in plana fragment of a floor laid with such., tile; Figure 3 is a section through the floor shownV in Figure 2 taken on the line of Figure 2; Like parts areidentiied by similar reference characters throughout the vseveral views. Y

` For purposes of economy, av tile embodying this invention is preferably inaderela-v tively thin so that a comparatively large areaI ofy surface can `be covered with a given.

weight of material.

It will be observed from an inspectionof Figure 1 that the tile of my invention com:` prises a block of generally rectangular outline, the upper face 5 thereof being substantially square and ribbed or grooved, as shown at 6, by combing to produce a 4non-skid sur. face. The under face 7 of the tile7 however, is not square but oblong due tothe kfact that the sides 8 of the tile are cut away at their Alower corners, as shown at 9, in order that mortar joints ybetween the tile. need not, extend completely through to the base therebeneath. A

Between the top surfacev 6 ofthe tile and the bottom surface 7 thereof, they tile ispr vided with longitudinally extending cha-nnels 10 and l1. The channels l1 in the lower row are staggered with reference to the channels l0 of the upper row andarefewer in number than channels 10 because ofthe fact that less space is available between recesses ,9, and the ends near the top of the tile.

The channels or recessed corners 9 are of such dimensions as to effectively take the place of the half passages 11 which might otherwise have been placed to open at the sides of the tile. At the same time, the beveled andv especially the rounded contour of 261 tile to the base and for this purpose a thin bed of mortar or cement is provided at 16. In laying the ltile'upon this base,'thetile are preferably laid in a recular pattern in which the ribs or grooves 6 in the face of adjacent `4tile are alternately varied in direction, one

tile having its grooves longitudinal of the stall-and the next tile havingits grooves transversely thereof, as shown in Figure 2.

There are two reasons why it is desirable to vary alternately the positions of consecu` tive tile. y'In the first lace, the grooved face thereof is obviously e ective to prevent slipping when the slip occurs transversel of the `ribs. If the grooves were all aligne in one direction, slipping might easily occur in such direction although the grooves would be effective to prevent slipping in a transverse direction. By alternating the direction of the rooves, the surface of the/floor is made ane ectivebarto skidding in any direction. It will be observed that each of the channels opening'through the upper part of the tile is completely cut off from communication with` 'allY other channels in the assembled Hoor by an imperforate opposing side face 8 of an adjacent tile. This is a desirable arrangement for effective heat insulation since it prevents the existence of convection currentsV in the floor.

yAs for channels 11 and 9, however, it will beobserved` that these channels are in complete, although necessarily indirect, com'- f munication throughout the completed floor since, as shown in figure 3, the endsl of channels 11 will adjoin one of the recesses or channels 9 which in turn will communicate with other channels 9` of the blocks or tile adjacent thereto. This establishes va complete network of communicating passages at the base of thetile which may, if desired, be connected with' a drain where the tile used is semi-porous. Although the connection thus establishedwill conduct water from beneath they completed licor, it will be obvious that at the same time it offers an effective obstruction to convection currents since the passages provided at the base of the tile are not direct but are extremely devious.

Since mortar is more or less conductive both of heat and moisture, the mortar joints between vadjacent tile are made very thin as suggested at 17 in Figures 2 and 3. As already pointed out, these joints do not extend from top to base of the tile but are -coextensive with the overhanging side-surfaces 8 thereof` and terminate above the channels 9 of one tile and the terminal portions of channels 11 of the adjacent tile.

While a variety of materials may be used toconstruct tile flooring embodying this invention, it is preferred to use a relatively non-porous material having relatively low heat conductivity. yA hard burned clay serves the purpose well and it is even possible for special urposes to glaze ya clay tile. A high grade of) concrete may also be used.

Stone would be serviceablebut for the expense of manufacture. Clay, however, is preferred( v By providing upwardly opening grooves or corrugations in the upper surface ofthe tile, even a tile from which litter is'absent will absorb heat from the'body of an animal much less rapidlythan would be the case if the surface were flat. These grooves, therefore, co-operate with the channels in providing a floor which will not readily absorb heat from the animal and conduct it to damp earth underneath.

I claim: f

' l. A tile floor comprising consecutive square tiles laid at right angles to each other, each tile being provided with interior drain channels and undercut margins substantially parallel to the drain channels, said channels and margins co-acting with the corres onding portions on opposite sides of adjacent tiles to produce continuous drain channels extending'in two directions.

2. A tile having a square top portion and an oblong bottom' portion, the width of said bottom portion being less than a side of the square top and said bottom portion having undercut margins at opposite sides, whereby when two of said tiles are assembled in right angle relation to each other, drain channels will be provided by said undercut margins. c

3. As a new article of manufacture, a floor tile substantially'square in outline and provided with a grooved upper surfaceV and beveled margins at two of its sides in the lower half portions of said side margins, and channels extending through said tile substantially parallel to said sides, said tile being adapted ing opposite sides substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the tile adjacent thereto and beveled away at their lower margins to form with adjacent tile downwardly opening channels, said tile having a series of channels opening at its unbeveled ends at substantially thek level of the beveled portions of its sides and adapted for communication with the marginal channels of similar tile disposed at right angles thereto.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a tile of rectangular outline provided immediately beneath its face with a series of channels opening at its ends and having beneath said lirst series of channels a second series of channels of less number staggered in relation to the channels of the lirst series, the sides of said tile being beveled to the bottom thereof at and below the level of said second series of channels.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a hollow licor tile of substantially square outline in plan, said tile having an upper series of channels immediately beneath its face and a lower series of channels staggered with reference to said upper series and reduced in number, and laterally opening concave recesses along the sides of said tile paralleling said channels and substantially at the level of the lower series of channels.

7. Tile flooring comprising substantially square floor tiles, each provided with upper and lower series of channels opening to its ends, and having its sides recessed at the level of the lower series of channels, certain of said tiles being arranged alternately whereby to seal the channels of the upper series while aiiording communication through said recesses between channels of the lower series.

8. A stable floor, comprising consecutive rows of square tiles having exposed grooves in their upper surfaces said tiles each having internal channels at different levels staggered in upper and lower series and extending entirely through the tile, the margins of each tile parallel to said corrugations being substantially abutting to other tile along their upper portions and having their lower portions recessed concavely to form with adjacent tile, downwardly opening channels, the consecutive tile in each row being dispo-sed with their respective corrugations, channels and recesses at right angles to each other, whereby said recesses form half channels along all abutting side margins of the tiles.

9. A stable floor comprising consecutive rows extending in two directions of substantially square tile having upper surfaces grooved and provided with interna-l cavities, each tile being supported by the others and cooperating with adjacent tile to form drainage channels extending in both of said directions along the bottoms of the tiles and with which said cavities communicate.

10. A lioor comprising a series of identical tile alternately laid in opposite directions, each such tile having a substantially square exposed surface and a lower portionundercut on two sides and co-operating with the adjacent tiles to form concealed channels, said tiles being substantially perpendicular on the other two sides, whereby the undercut sides of tiles in the floor are supported by perpendicular sides of adjacent tiles.

JOHN G. SHODRON. 

